Boiler tube or flue scraper and cleaner.



No. 728,085. PATENTED MAY 12,. 1903.

A.'-0. GRUZAN. BOILER TUBEOR ELUE SGRAPER AND CLEANER.

APPLIOATIOKFILEI) SEPT. 6, 1902.

no MODEL. "2 sums-sum 1.

I No. 728,085. PATENTED MAY 12,1903.

A. 0- GRUZAN. BOILER TUBE 0R FLUE SGRAPER AND CLEANER.

APPLIOATIO N FILED SEPT. 6, 1902. no MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

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UNITED STATES Patented May 12, 1902 3.

PATENT FFICE.

ALBERT O. CRUZAN, OF MADISON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN I. ROSS, OF MADISON, INDIANA.

BOILER TUBE OR FLUE SCRAPER AND CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 728,085, dated May 12, 1903.

Application filed September 6,1902. Serial No. 122,380. (No model- T0 or whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT O. CRUZAN, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Madison, in the county of Jefferson and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Boiler Tube or Flue Scrapers and Cleaners, of which the following is a specification. a

This invention relates to a boiler tube and flue scraper and cleaner; and 'the primary object of the same is to provide a device of this class which is readily convertible from one use to another by substituting different forms of cleaningblades therein in' relation to a mandrel for effectively cleaning a boiler-tube or scraping a flue without shoving the soot back into the combustion-chamber and adapted to draw both the soot through fines and scales through tubes to the front of such devices and having automatically operating means to facilitatethe readyinsertion of the improved devices in eitheratube or flue and setting it to dispose the parts in. such position as to effectively clean fines or tubes when the device is drawn toward the front end of the latter.

The invention consists in the construction will be more fully hereinafter described and;

claimed and subject to a wide range in the modification of the dimensions, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the principle of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a tube or flue, showing the improved scraper and cleaner therein in side elevation and the position the parts assume when the device is being pushed inwardly into'the tube or flue. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of a portion of a tube or flue and the improved scraper and cleaner therein, showing the part'sex nded to permit the blades or scraping devices to perform their function. ,Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on the line3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a modified form of one of the blades. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one of the blades shown by Figs. 1 and 2 having a brush attachment thereon.

Similar numerals of reference are employed rear of the spider 8.

to indicate corresponding parts in the several views. 1

The numeral 1 designates a mandrel which may be extended by coupling additions thereto to accommodate different lengths of tubes and flues. At a-suitabledistance in rear of the front terminal of this mandrel a stop 2 is secured, andin advance of the stop is a sliding sleeve 3, of conical shape, having the rear ends of pull rods at loosely passing therethrough and prevented from becoming detached by rear nuts 5. The front ends of the rods 4 are movably secured to arms 6, pivotally attached to the front end of the mandrel, there being one arm on each side of the latter. The arms 6 are engaged by a pivotbolt 7, passing therethrough at a distance from the inner ends of said arms, and to said ends the forward terminals of the pull-rods 4 pivotally mounted a corresponding series of .forwardly-projectin g blades 9, the portions of the blades extending through the arms of the spider being given a quarter-twist for obvious reasons.

The rear extremities of the blades movably extend through a resilient ring 10, formed of coiled wire and located in The rear extremities of the blades 9 are curved outwardly a sufficient distance to partially conform to the curvature of the inner portion of the resilient ring 10, and for a greater portion of their length the said blades are longitudinally convex and have expanding springs 11 secured thereto and engaging the mandrel. Each of the blades has a segmental brace 12 secured thereto, two of these braces being formed with slots 13 near their terminals to fit over the pullrods4-when the blades are compressed toward the mandrel. The braces work close to a guide-disk l l, which is utilized for securing the springs 11 to the mandrel and also formed with opposite radiallydisposed slots 15, through which the rods 4 loosely extend. The disk 14 provides an intermediate guide-brace for the rods 4, and the segmental braces 12 serve as means for drawing the material loosened from the tubes or flues toward the front end of the latter, and when the said blades are expanded to bear against the inner side of a tube or flue the braces form an annulus, as clearly shown by Fig. 3.

In some instances the springs 11 may be dispensed with, particularly in constructing scrapers and cleaners in accordance with the features of the invention for use in small tubes, as the resilient ring 10 will be sufficient to expand the blades without the springs 11.

The blades 9 are detachable from the spider 8 by removing the fastening devices therefor, and in ordinary flue-cleaning operations the form of blade shown by Figs. 1 and 2 is employed, and to provide the said blades with more effective cleaning means or with means for finishing and thoroughly cleaning out a fine the brush attachment shown by Fig. 5 will be employed and consists in a back 16, having upstanding wire or other bristles 17, the said back being curved in an arc corresponding to that of the segmental braces 12, carried by the blade and attached to the latter through the medium of cleats 18.

In place of the blade 9 and the brush attachment just described the blade 19 (shown by Fig. 4) may be used and substituted therefor. This blade 19 is straight for the greater portion of its length and has a front laterallyprojected scraping edge 20 for loosening scales or other sediment in boiler-tubes, and the expansion of this blade 19 relatively to the mandrel l by the means heretofore set forth will cause the end edge 20 to engage the inner surface of the tube and drag out the scales and other deposits therein. Thev same devices heretofore described are used in connection with the blade 19, and in manufacturing the improved scraper and cleaner the several attachments mentioned will be supplied therewith, and one maybe readily substituted for the other.

When the improved cleaner and scraper is inserted in a tube or flue, the forward edges of the arms 6 are struck and turned rearwardly, as shown by Fig. 1, thereby pulling forwardly on the rods 4and drawing the conical sleeve 3 upwardly into the resilientring 10 and between the rear terminals of the blades lying within the said ring. This forward movement of the sleeve 3 causes the blades to be drawn inwardly close to the mandrel, as shown by Fig. 1, against the resistance of the ring 10 or the springs 11 or against the resistance of the ring 10 in accordance with the disuse of the springs 11. In this contracted condition the scraper and cleaner may be forced forwardly through the full length of the tube or flue until the rear terminal of the latthe fact that the outward movement of the cleaner through the tube or fine throws the arms 6 over at angles reverse to those shown by Fig. 1, and during the outward movement of the improved device through the tube or fine it may be rotated at intervals to elfectively loosen up the collection of material in such tube or flue. The loosened material is drawn toward or passes out the front end of the tube or flue, and to thoroughly relieve a flue of all sediment the brush attachment shown by Fig. 5 will be used. The blade shown by Fig. 4, as heretofore indicated, is employed for loosening the scale or other sediment in boiler-tubes, and the same operation is pursued as in cleaning a flue.

A material advantage arises in the use of the improved device in that all sediment in either a tube or flue is drawn outwardly through the front end of the latter, and it is obviously apparent that the cleaning operation will be very eifective and can be carried on more expeditiously than by the use of those devices which force the sediment ahead of the same into the combustion-chamber.

It is proposed to construct the several parts of the device of such metal or other material best adapted for the purpose.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. In a tube and line scraper and'cleaner,

the combination of a mandrel, a sliding element on the mandrel, arms pivoted to one extremity by the mandrel and connected to the element, the arms automatically controlling the movement of the element, and a series of blades movably held by the mandrel and under resilient influence, the blades being aut0- matically drawn toward the mandrel by the operation of the arms and movement of the element thereby when the device as an entirety is pushed in one direction and said blades released and permitted to expand when the device as an entirety is drawn in the opposite direction.

2. A tube and flue cleanerand scraper comprising a mandrel, arms pivotally mounted on the front extremity thereof, a sleeve slidable on the mandrel in rear of the arms and connected to the latter, a plurality of blades pivotally held by the mandrel, the sleeve operating to draw the blades toward the mandrel, and spring means for throwing the blades outwardly when released.

3. A tube and flue cleaner and scraper consisting of a mandrel having a series of outwardly movable blades pivotally carried thereby and under spring control, a conical sleeve movable on the mandrel to engage the blades and compress the same toward the said mandrel, and arms pivoted on the forward extremities of the mandrel and connected to the sleeve for operating the latter in reverse directions in accordance with the movement of the entire device through a tube or flue.

4:. A device of the character set forth comprising a mandrel having a series of blades IIO pivotally carried thereby, a spring-ring surrounding the rear terminals of the blades, a sleeve movable on the mandrel to extend through the ring and engage the rear terminals of the blades, and pivoted devices on the forward extremity of the mandrel connected to the sleeve for automatically regulating the position of the latter in conformity with the movement of the entire device in opposite directions through a tube or flue.

5. A device of the class set forth comprising. a mandrel, a series of blades pivotally carried by the mandrel and under spring control, means for contracting the blades consisting of a slidable element which is adapted to engage the rear extremities of said blades, and devices movably carried by the mandrel and connected to said means for automatic ally shifting the latter in accordance with the direction of movement of the devices through a tube or flue.

6. A device of the class set forth comprising a mandrel, a plurality of blades pivotally carried thereby and having segments which conjointly form means for drawing sediment or accumulations out of a tube or flue, a sleeve for contracting the blades and their segments, spring means for controlling the blades, and movable devices on the forward extremities of the blades connected to said sleeve for automatically shifting the latter in relation to the blades.

7. A device of the class set forth comprising a mandrel, a series of blades pivotally carried thereby, means for expanding and contracting said blades, and brush attachments for the said blades which unitedlyform a circular brush when the blades are expanded, the brush attachments each havinga segmental flange between which and the attachments proper the blades are inserted.

8. A device of the class set forth comprising a mandrel, a series of blades pivotally mounted thereon and movable outwardly therefrom, a conical sleeve slidable on the mandrel and adapted to engage the rear extremities of the blades, a resilient ring surrounding the rear extremities of the blades, arms pivotally connected to the front terminal of the mandrel and capable of moving in opposite angular positions, and pull-rods connecting the inner ends of the arms and the said sleeve.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT O. CRUZAN.

Witnesses:

W. 0. FORD, J OHN I. Ross. 

